Oscars outrage: ‘The Lord of the Rings’ performances that were robbed of nominations

The acting ensemble in Peter Jackson‘s “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy is nothing short of spectacular. Younger actors including Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom became stars while the cast was peppered with veteran thespians, too, including Sir Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee, and John Rhys-Davies.

British actors such as Sean Bean and Andy Serkis, American stars like Sean Astin and Viggo Mortensen, and Australian performers including Cate Blanchett and David Wenham all melded together to breathe life into Middle Earth. The shocking thing, however, is that only one actor landed an Oscar nomination for their work in the esteemed trilogy. That was McKellen, who was nominated in 2002 for playing Gandalf the Grey in the first movie, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” But so many more actors could and should have been nominated for their work in Jackson’s film series. Here are just five such cases.

More from GoldDerby

• TV Cinematographers Roundtable: 'All the Light We Cannot See,' 'The Bear,' 'The Continental,' 'Hijack,' 'Justified: City Primeval' [Exclusive Video Interview]

• 'Justified: City Primeval' cinematographer John Lindley: 'I didn't want to just do something that had been done before' [Exclusive Video Interview]

• 'Hijack' cinematographer Ed Moore: 'The rule was the camera can't be anywhere that the characters couldn't be' [Exclusive Video Interview]

Sean Bean — Best Supporting Actor for “The Fellowship of the Ring”
Bean is known for dying in his various roles, amassing countless iconic deaths across his work in film and TV. Ned Stark suffered a brutal, shocking death in the first season of “Game of Thrones” but it’s Boromir who has the most epic death. As Boromir, the first son of Denethor, the Steward of Gondor, Bean displays a swaggering arrogance and a stern sense of duty corrupted by ambition and the power of the ring. He has a darkness to him but also pity and patheticness as the ring draws out all of his undesirable traits. Bean captures this well but it’s his final sequence when he bravely defends hobbits Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) from the Uruk-hai that is his best scene. Bean’s dying speech to Mortensen’s Aragorn is a beautiful, cathartic, and character-redeeming moment and it lives long in the memory. Bean has never been nominated for an Oscar before but should have joined his co-star McKellen with a Best Supporting Actor bid here.

Andy Serkis — Best Supporting Actor for “The Two Towers”
Serkis is the godfather of motion-capture performances and has provided a number of Oscar-worthy roles in this format, including the titular part in “King Kong,” and his role as Caeser in “The Planet of the Apes” films. It all began, however, with his role as Gollum. Originally intended as a voice-only part, Serkis’ physical performance was so good that Jackson and the filmmakers created a whole new way to capture Serkis’ characterization of Gollum.

I’ve written extensively about Serkis’ mind-blowing performance already but every facial expression, twitch of a muscle, physical movement, and intonation in voice seen and heard in Gollum/Smeagol is entirely Serkis’. Plus, that dual monologue between Gollum and Smeagol is nothing short of Shakespearean brilliance. If Gary Oldman can win Best Actor for “Darkest Hour,” then an actor should be able to win for a motion-capture performance. It’s just digital makeup as opposed to physical makeup or prosthetics. Serkis has never been nominated for an Oscar before but he should have been won in 2003 for “The Two Towers.”

Sean Astin — Best Supporting Actor for “The Return of the King”
Jackson himself called Astin’s performance as Samwise Gamgee the “heart” of the film. Astin’s arc as Samwise is an actor’s dream — from something of a scaredy cat who doesn’t want to leave the Shire to perhaps the bravest being in all of Middle Earth. I may have had my eyes closed when Sam defeated Shelob (fellow arachnophobes will sympathize) but they were wide open to Astin’s emotional performance in the final “Rings” movie.

It’s Sam who sells the emotional climax of this series as he refuses to give up, fights his way through Orcs and Uruk-hai in Cirith Ungol, ensures the ring’s safety, and then carries Elijah Wood’s Frodo up to the mouth of Mount Doom. “I can’t carry it for you, but I can carry you” is one of the most soaring moments in the entire film series and it’s actually a great Oscars moment that should have landed Astin an Oscar nomination. Oh, and by the way, Astin executes a very difficult rural English accent, which goes overlooked. That’s no mean feat, especially for an American actor. Astin has never been nominated for an Oscar before.

David Wenham — Best Supporting Actor for “The Return of the King”
Wenham was one of the breakout stars of this series, going on to land roles in major Hollywood productions such as “Van Helsing” and “300.” He appeared here as Faramir, Boromir’s younger brother, and he has perhaps the most heart-breaking role in the entire series. Book fans will have some squabbles with Jackson’s depiction of Faramir in “The Two Towers” and “The Return of the King,” but this iteration of Faramir serves Jackson’s films very well and Wenham injects so much emotion into the role. Faramir, like his brother Boromir, has a keen sense of duty, but he also shows compassion, kindness, and insightfulness that perhaps eluded his brother. Denethor (John Noble) treats Faramir appallingly and Wenham captures the heartbreak of a son who knows he will never live up to what his father wants him to be. It’s a truly affecting performance and perhaps should have scored Wenham, who has never been nominated for an Oscar, a Best Supporting Actor bid at the 2004 Academy Awards.

Viggo Mortensen — Best Actor for “The Return of the King”
The role of Aragorn initially went to Stuart Townsend but after Jackson deemed he was too young — and Daniel Day-Lewis and Russell Crowe passed on the role — Mortensen was hired. The actor then made the role his own, nailing the English accent and possessing the grit, determination, melancholy, brutality, pathos, and nobility needed to bring Aragorn to life. Mortensen’s Aragorn became, across the three films, the commanding lead. While Wood’s Frodo (another excellent performance) was the film’s truest lead character, Mortensen’s crucial role of Aragorn was a close second. Mortensen also had a number of Oscar moments as Aragorn emotionally led the charge at the Black Gate, argued with Bernard Hill‘s King Theoden, and forced the Army of the Dead to uphold their oath. It’s a strong performance and Mortensen deserved a Best Actor nomination. Instead, he had to wait until 2008 for his first Oscar nomination, which came for Best Actor for “Eastern Promises.” Mortensen has since picked up two more nominations in this category — in 2017 for “Captain Fantastic” and in 2019 for “Green Book.”

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

• Rock Hudson movies: 12 greatest films ranked worst to best

• Allison Janney movies: 10 greatest films ranked worst to best

• Whoopi Goldberg movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.